Ooh la la!

Now that my life is no longer consumed by planning and preparing for this long-awaited bridal shower, I can finally blog about it. Did I not say that this would be the best party I ever threw? I think yes. But I have a pretty great party in the works for next year, too, which might rival this one. But here are some of the highlights from this French-themed shower that I threw for the bestie.

The food:

 This was by far my favorite thing: a cheese cake. Obsessed. Not to mention that it was two of my very favorite French fromage--brie and boursin. Deelish.

Thanks to Lindsay for bringing those cute pink cupcakes! They were perfect :)

 Please notice the bronze French coq. Had to.

The people:

the bride-to-be herself.

 Haley, Haleigh, and Cory:

 Tatiana, Dresden, Kristina, Cassi:

 Missionary friends! Holli, Lindsay, Britney, Harmony:

 Jenny, Irene, Sari, Dani, Kelly:

 Somehow I think I was just laughing the whole time...

 She really tried her hardest to not be embarrassed:

 So excited by her madeleine pan:

 Tout le monde! Let's just say, I definitely don't have this many friends. Everyone loves Laurel :)

 How I love these girls! We decided that seeing each other only once a year is definitely not enough.

The games:

I made up little advice cards corresponding to the letters of the married's names. Here are my favorites:

Questionnaire about the bride and a French word search:

Bingo for when she was opening presents:

I was really sad that we didn't have time to play pictionary. So if anyone is up for a game of bridal shower pictionary sometime, let me know because I'm really dying to play.

The decorations:

I had this mirror that I bought from the DI a few months ago. Luckily, my sister had some chalkboard paint just lying around in her garage, so I took advantage!

Welcome!

 That's one of the invitations in the frame there... Yes, I became an InDesign pro because of this party.

 I don't even know how many hours I spent (and forced several co-workers to spend--thanks again Haley and Melissa!) folding paper to make these adorable pinwheels. I made a few more than I had planned...

 We made little favor boxes and put some French macarons inside. Again, had to.

The cute napkins: 

 Oh, the classic tissue paper puffs.

 Another of my favorite things: the "Ooh La La" banner. Luckily we already had that giant gold mirror in our living room. 

 So, yeah. It was a pretty great shower. I was so happy with how everything worked out, and how many people came to celebrate with Laurel. It was a great time. But, to be honest, I'm happy that it's over!! I need to get back to planning other things, like my trip to France. But I guess this was good preparation anyway, right?